david kerley at the white house tonight. >> reporter: president obama and his white house team appear confident with the stronger hand in talks with house republicans, demanding and believing tax rates for the wealthy are going up. >> there is no responsible way we can govern the country with those low rates in place for future generations. those rates are going to have to go up. >> i was flabbergasted. i look at him and i said, you can't be serious. >> reporter: the two sides are seriously far apart. the president wants $1.6 billion in new tax revenue over ten years. the speaker wants half that. the president wants spending cuts, $600 billion. to medicare and other programs. not enough, says the speaker. >> if we gave the president 1.6 trillion of more money, what do you think he is going to do with it? he is going to spend it. that is what washington does. >> they have to come to us and tell us what they need. what we can't do is to keep guessing. >> so the ball is in their court? >> absolutely. and they understand that. >> reporter: the good news, it appears the mortgage reduction